Senior leaders in the city know that they need to help their teams focus on the values that shape what they do. It’s hard to do though, hard to lift the head from process to values. Here some simple ideas from the people we have worked with and the experience we’ve had over 10 years at Podnosh.

Birmingham is expanding its vision of good local government with a more collaborative, bottom-up approach. Can local economics in the region be similarly expanded through a shared vision of the common good?

Birmingham and the West Midlands have a history of strong civil society and social innovation, from the philanthropism of the Quakers to today’s social enterprise quarter. Here are ten of the best ideas for change in the region:

On a dark January evening last year, 7 year old Danica accompanied her mum to a meeting in a draughty community centre in the heart of her neighbourhood. A mile to the north west of Dudley town centre, Wren’s Nest is an estate of housing built in the 1930s to re-house families from slum clearances. Built at the same time, St Christopher’s Parish Church has been run by local residents as a community centre since 1982, on a peppercorn lease from the diocese.

A group of young adults living in Heath Town in Wolverhampton are turning their estate into a digital factory. Operating out of disused shops, a closed-down youth club and former underground car park, they are transforming the heritage of the past using the tools of the future.